SIPTU has called on the Government to immediately end the effective veto over the progressing of Joint Labour Committees (JLCs) which employers groups are using to consign tens of thousands of workers to poverty.

SIPTU Services Division Organiser, John King, said: “For nearly 12 months workers have had to endure the Restaurants Association of Ireland and Irish Hotels Federation subverting Government policy and refusing to engage in the JLC process. This process merely seeks to set fair wages and conditions for mostly low paid workers in order to ensure that their work pays enough for them to support themselves and their families.

He added: “What is particularly galling about these employers refusing to accept Government policy is that they have also received massive state support in recent years. This has included the targeted reduction of VAT rates, investment in tourism projects such as the Gathering and the Wild Atlantic Way, as well as the continued supplementing of their employees incomes by the State because they refuse to pay them sufficient wages.”

SIPTU calls on Government to end employers’ veto of JLCs